The present invention relates to a payment method as described in the preamble of claim 1, the user terminal as described in preamble of claim 9, the vendor terminal as described in preamble of claim 11, the delivery company-terminal as described in claim 12, and the retailer terminal as described in preamble of claim 15. Such a payment method and related devices are generally known in the art. Indeed, in e-commerce, payment methods exist for paying goods that are electronically ordered at a vendor-site by a user using a terminal.
Such a vendor-site consists of at least a vendor-terminal, this site being maintained by a vendor. A buyer may for instance select a good from a Web site maintained by the vendor. The electronic ordering of the selected goods by the buyer in such an e-commerce payment method then is done via a buyer's user terminal sending a request for ordering a good, to the vendor-terminal via the Internet. Alternatively, the ordering for instance may also be done by telephone and subsequently confirmed by mail or fax.
At the same time of sending the order, credit card information or other information for enabling the immediate payment of the ordered good is sent towards the vendor terminal. The vendor then may retrieve the money due for the ordered good using this credit card information. If the payment transaction is successful, the vendor sends the good(s) via a shipping company to the buyer. The shipping company delivers the good at the buyer's address of convenience, for instance the home address of the buyer. The buyer may accept the good if the state of the good is satisfying, if the right product is delivered, etc.
In case the ordered good is not delivered at all, damaged, or is not the right product, it is often difficult for the buyer to get back the money already paid.
Today's e-commerce solutions involve immediate payment using a credit card or a pre-paid card for paying at the same instant of ordering of goods. The payment can also be performed by a user-preferred entity called retailer and that maintains a user's bank-account on behalf of the user. However, it is not possible to pay the goods only at delivery while still guaranteeing to all involved parties that they will receive their money. Some payment on delivery solutions exist but they are either manual (not electronic) and involve a significant extra cost (postal services), or electronic but only available to large vendors performing the delivery themselves (not via a third party) and using proprietary electronic payment solutions only available locally (not internationally). These solutions are too costly for the majority of vendors and in any case not available for international electronic commerce.
An object of the present invention is to provide an electronic payment method and related devices of the above known type but wherein the payment is performed at delivery of the ordered while guaranteeing all involved parties that they will obtain their money.
According to the invention, this object is achieved by the payment method as described in claim 1, the user terminal as described in claim 9, the vendor terminal as described in claim 11, the delivery company terminal as described in claim 12 and the retailer terminal as described in claim 15. Indeed, creating an approval for payment by the user terminal, destined to the vendor terminal and forwarding this approval towards the vendor terminal, enables the vendor-terminal upon reception of this approval for payment, to request the amount of money required for paying the good from the bank account of the buyer by forwarding the approval for payment towards the retailer terminal. The retail terminal subsequently forwards a proof of transferring the amount of money from the bank-account of the buyer to a bank-account of the vendor in response to receipt of the approval for payment. The vendor terminal, upon reception of the proof of transferring the amount of money, notifies the delivery company terminal of the successful payment.